Do you know what a 'clam' is? How about 'a barrel' or the dreaded 'Nakamura'?

You will now, thanks to THE OTHER NETWORK'S FREE GLOSSARY OF TERMS FROM THE WRITERS ROOM, gathered from writers of SNL, 30 Rock, Family Guy, The Simpsons.

This collection of comedy writer's jargon and insider lingo will help you sound like you know what you're talking about when you get inside the room, but each phrase also encapsulates an important principal of comedy writing.

"Rockford Files" and "Hawaii Five-O" are flying high, procedurals are hotter than ever before, multicamera comedies are staging a comeback and veteran sitcom directors James Burrows and Pamela Fryman are the most sought-after helmers with three projects each.

While the '80s were hot last year with remakes of "Parenthood," "The Witches of Eastwick" and "V" and the '80s-set "Gossip Girl" spinoff, networks have shifted back a decade this year with "Rockford," "Hawaii" and the '70s-set ABC comedy "Funny in Farsi."

Read the whole article at The Hollywood Reporter.

Nice article in Slate:

The four rules of action movies Kathryn Bigelow breaks every time (and thank goodness for that).

Pick any scene at random from among Bigelow's films and it's possible to mistake it for a high-grade Jerry Bruckheimer or Joel Silver production: the roiling guitars, the guns 'n' ammo, the flaming cars, the shirtless guys punching one another. But one of Bigelow's many virtues as an auteur—and perhaps her box-office Achilles' heel—is her willingness to break some unwritten rules of the hard-charging spectacles that are often her stock in trade.

Rule 1: Heroes should be heroic.

Rule 2: Violence should both excite and relax your audience.

Rule 3: There should be at least one Hot Chick (viz., Jolie, Mendes, Fox).

Rule 4: Send the viewer out on a high!

Read the whole article on Salon.

You've started generating material. You've defined the boundaries, genre and format of your writing project. Now get ready for hurdle #3: Making a lot of words flow.

I’ve seen many writers define their project clearly and even get as far as a detailed outline that is completely ready to draft and then… they hit a wall.

Why aren’t the words coming out?

Reason #1: It’s not the right project. It's completely possible that with every rational reason to write the project you're trying to write, it's just isn't the right project for you right now. (Or maybe ever.)

Solution:

Last week we announced the finalists in the Other Network Comedy Contest. This week we're happy to announce...

The runner up in the comedy contest is Derek Taylor Kent, primarily for his "Original Sketch Packet", but also for his other entries, all of which were very nicely done.

And the winner is...

Deborah Gross for her blog "Conversations With Deb".

We admit that we're a little partial to reality, but we admired the way wrote her own lines in life - and found the funny as it unfolded around her. Also, for finding a way to put the work out as it happened without having to wait for a greenlight from anyone else. Since, let's face it, the green lights are getting harder and harder to get, even for seasoned professionals.

Congratulations to Deb and to all the entries for your hard work.

We're proud to announce the finalists of the Other Network Comedy Contest 2009-10.

Several people sent in multiple script entries this year and, while each individual entry was read 'blind' (no cover page or author info), when we realize that someone wrote more than one script that made it into the finals, we're kind of impressed. That is definitely the kind of thing that an agent or showrunner will look for.

One good script is good, but several good scripts let people know that the writer is prolific - and that's one of the essential ingredients for a career writing comedy.

That being said, the potential winners, in no particular order, are...

Shaz Bennett, "Alaska is a Drag" (Original Pilot)

Brendan Rovan & Timothy Cascino, "Curb Your Enthusiasm: Larry's NSD" (Spec Script)

Teddy Goldsmith, "30 Rock: Fear of a Fat Cat" (Spec Script)

Sara Cravens & Teddy Goldsmith, "Welcome to Stankley" (Original Pilot)

Tyler Burton Smith, "30 Rock: Little People Boxing" (Spec Script)

Deborah Gross, " Conversations With Deb" (Blog Entries)

Derek Taylor Kent "Original Sketch Pack" (He didn't waste any creativity on the title), "The Sarah Silverman Program: When Sarah Met Groucho" (Spec Script), "30 Rock: Poached Lemon" (Spec Script).

Thank you all for your hard work, and for making us laugh. Stay tuned for the winner(s).

Hollywood discovers India and more of the latest old news from the television networks courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter.

What's getting greenlit this year?

Lots of people who have been on TV before in shows about cops, doctors, remakes of TV shows that have been on before and... the return of comedies?

Also next year watch for... more stuff from England.

Good food for thought about why to write and how to read memoirs from the New Yorker's review of "Memoir: A History" featuring Freud, St. Augustine, Rousseau and other hoidy toidy references you'd expect from the NYer.

They don't mention that right now it's next to impossible to sell a memoir in a publishing market that insiders are calling 'brutal'. Or that in the post-Kiss & Running With Scissors environment, you either need to be pretty famous or have a giant meat hook to hang your book on.

But they do offer a bonus podcast about phony memoirs and the enduring popularity of the form.

OK, maybe you had some trouble getting started, but now you're beginning to generate material.

Or maybe you're a natural generator, or even an over-producer, and you have too much material.

Is it all even part of the same project? Maybe it’s several different projects. Congratulations, you've just hit Hurdle #2: defining the parameters of your writing project.
 
If your problem is: “I can’t choose between several possible projects”...

There are several hurdles that almost every writer has to get past in almost every writing project; scripts, books, plays, or even a substantial essay or article.

As a writing coach I've helped many writers and talented would-be writers get over – or around – these hurdles. I've also written over a dozen scripts myself – plus many projects that never got finished because of one or more of these stumbling blocks.

Webster's defines a 'hurdle' as: “an artificial barrier over which racers must leap”. I think the key here is remembering they're artificial blocks, usually psychological, and they're almost always put in your way by you. Of course, they seem - and act - pretty real.

HURDLE #1: GETTING STARTED

You might be one of the lucky ones who has no trouble here. If so you've probably gotten started on way too many projects. If you’re one of those people, you can skip directly to the second hurdle. But if you’re having trouble getting going it’s probably due to one of the following reasons:

“I’m too busy with other things!” aka “I can’t find the time!”

Solution #1: